The founder of Ikea, Ingvar Kamprad, died
on Saturday aged 91 at his home in Smaland, Sweden, the company has confirmed.

Mr. Kamprad, described as “one of the
greatest entrepreneurs of the 20th century,” was 17 when he founded Ikea — a
shop for furniture, lighting, home accessories and more — in 1943, but the
notoriously frugal billionaire has made headlines over the years for his modest
spending habits.

The man, who was once listed as the world’s
fourth richest man, took easy Jet flights, drove himself around in a
15-year-old Volvo and furnished his modest house almost entirely with Ikea
items — which he assembled himself.

And the Ikea magnate once took a bus to a
gala evening to collect a businessman of the year award, prompting security to
refuse to let him in.

Kamprad admitted buying all his clothes
from flea (second hand) markets in the hope of setting a good example to
others.

During visits to London, he shunned taxis
and preferred to use the Tube or buses.

He and his wife, Margaretha, loved to dine
out in cheap restaurants and they haggled over prices in their local market.

As for haircut, he usually waited till he
was in a developed country where he could get it cheaply done. Said he,
“’Normally, I try to get my haircut when I’m in a developing country. Last time
it was in Vietnam.”

When a statue of him was erected in his
Swedish home town, he was invited to cut the ribbon. He instead untied it,
folded it, then gave it back to the mayor, telling him he could use it again.

Explaining his frugal nature, he said: ‘I
am a bit tight with money, a sort of Swedish Scotsman. But so what?

“If I start to acquire luxurious things
then this will only incite others to follow suit. It’s important that leaders
set an example.

“I look at the money I’m about to spend on
myself and ask if Ikea’s customers could afford it.”

Kamprad was a former Nazi sympathiser in
the years immediately following the Second World War and faced questions about
his past in 2011 after author Elisabeth Asbrink said he had been an active
recruiter for a Swedish Nazi group.

The Swedish billionaire claimed his
involvement was ‘stupidity’ and the ‘greatest mistake’ of his life.

A self-confessed alcoholic, the Ikea
founder admitted he had an ongoing problem with drink. But he said he had it
under control and that he ‘dries out’ three times a year.

Multinational Ikea, with hundreds of
stores, has long been the world’s largest furniture retailer. The company is
run jointly by Mr Kamprad’s three sons — Peter, 44, Jonas, 41, and Matthias,
39.